Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
(Format used for this read: Audiobook)
After Tova Sullivan’s husband died, she began working the night shift at the Sowell Bay Aquarium, mopping floors and tidying up. Keeping busy has always helped her cope, which she’s been doing since her eighteen-year-old son, Erik, mysteriously vanished on a boat in Puget Sound over thirty years ago.
Tova becomes acquainted with curmudgeonly Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus living at the aquarium. Marcellus knows more than anyone can imagine but wouldn’t dream of lifting one of his eight arms for his human captors—until he forms a remarkable friendship with Tova.
Ever the detective, Marcellus deduces what happened the night Tova’s son disappeared. And now Marcellus must use every trick his old invertebrate body can muster to unearth the truth for her before it’s too late.
Shelby Van Pelt’s debut novel is a gentle reminder that sometimes taking a hard look at the past can help uncover a future that once felt impossible.
So many peeps I know have read this book and just LOVED it…I have also seen it on all kinds of “must read” lists out there as of late.
Sometimes extremely well liked and well known books are NOT well liked by yours truly (hello Colleen Hoover lol) so I frequently give a side eye to popular books….but this one DID sound pretty intriguing.
A friend told me that if I liked the documentary My Octopus Teacher (which I 10000 percent did), then I would absolutely enjoy this book.
And hallelujah, she was spot on!
I am so super glad I gave it a chance because now I see what all the hype is about!
This really is such a beautiful and heartwarming story about grief, loss, growth, connection and family.
Ironically, in these pages you learn the most about humanity and feelings from an octopus, who is one of the multiple narrators of the story.
I LOVED the chapters voiced by the octopus and hearing his perspective on everything…his observations on human beings are hilarious, spot on, and even sometimes shame inducing. (we are a legit hot mess of a species most of the time, are we not??)
LOVED the guy’s voice who reads Marcellus’ bits….SUCH perfect tone and personification!
The human characters of Tova and Cameron give such insight into the many layers and expressions one has when it comes to loss and grief….and the feelings of isolation and loneliness that come along with it.
Each of them has experienced different kinds of losses and each of them express it and deal with it (or not deal with it) in starkly different ways.
This story is just an example of how grief is never linear, never similar, and also a never ending journey…it never goes away, just evolves into different things.
This story also shows how vital connection is to healing and handling grief….how we all need someone (or someTHING) to be alongside us as we travel the winding and complicated road of life.
I truly did enjoy this book…it was well written, funny, touched on all the feels and had a satisfying (although not perfect) ending.
Not a long or tough read either….yall should definitely check it out!
Wonderful review! Im so glad you enjoyed it. I loved this book so much. I listened to the audio after waiting months for it to be released. Some of my favorite librarians on YouTube had talked about it multiple times before it was released and I couldn’t wait for this one. I liked it so much I even bought the hardback. I believe it’s a debut. If you want to hear her story about writing the book it’s available at Library Love Fest on Facebook and YouTube.
I read it for my book last summer. I was skeptical of the book knowing that chapters were voiced by an octopus, but I ended up loving it! Everyone enjoyed it!